Asteroids
by Mr Evil 37
Summary: REWRITE. When Destiny drops out of FTL into the middle of an asteroid field, the gate auto-activates, leaving the crew scrambling. With tensions rising, can the crew discover why the ship stopped, while trying to stay alive until the jump countdown ends?
1. Prologue

_Author's Note:_

_This is the final version of this story. After many months of inactivity, and attempts to begin revisions, I have finally begun and I hope that this time I can see the entire thing through to the end. I have decided that the ten chapters I have written so far make up "Asteroids", the first part of a two part story. When I have completed the re-writes, I will either begin a sequel to "Asteroids" that will conclude the story I begun, or simply continue on from this story._

_"Asteroids" takes place after the season one episode "Pain", but before "Subversion"._

_I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and leave feedback on this story. I really appreciate it and the feedback has been extremely valuable in my revisions. And the positive feedback makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :P _

_I hope you enjoy this story :D _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Universe, or any other aspect of the Stargate franchise, or the characters and plot elements I will be using in this story. This is written purely for fun and advancing my writing skills, not to make money or infringe copyright. This disclaimer applies to all current and future chapters._

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Previously on SGU...**

_"This is what _Destiny_ intended from the moment it entered the star system," - Doctor Nicholas Rush. _

_"We are going to survive, we are going to make it home," – Colonel Everett Young._

_"I'm telling you, the ship came here for a reason!" – Lieutenant Matthew Scott._

_"This ship is powered by the stars themselves," – Doctor Nicholas Rush._

_"He and Young are bumping heads, yes. Not sure which camp is the better choice," – Camille Wray._

_"We just pretend nothing happened? We need to be ready for the next encounter. For the sake of the crew," – Colonel Everett Young._

_"For the sake of the crew," – Doctor Nicholas Rush._

_"Many of the power conduits have been badly damaged. And firing the ship's weapon system without either repairing them or isolating the damaged areas would be prohibitively dangerous," – Doctor Nicholas Rush._

_"Doctor Rush has just confirmed that our current FTL jump will take us between galaxies," – Colonel Everett Young._

_"Welcome to our new galaxy," – Chloe Armstrong._

* * *

**Prologue**

_Destiny: Gate room._

Beeps and clicks echoed though the expansive space, as Eli Wallace pressed a couple of buttons on the rusty Ancient console in front of him, bringing up a schematic of the huge ring shaped structure that towered above him at the far end of the magnificent gate room.

It was close to midnight. Most of the crew that currently inhabited the star ship _Destiny _were asleep, leaving the cold metal corridors whisper quiet and pitch dark. The word "ancient" correctly described the ship; the alien race who built it millennia ago were also known by the humans of Earth as the Ancients.

And now, millions of years after its initial launch, Eli sat alone in the huge gate room, muttering to himself in his characteristically sarcastic tone.

"Damn it, Rush," he said. "Why do you have to be such a slave driver?"

Eli looked up from the console, staring forward at the _Destiny_'s Stargate. It was a dark silvery gray colour, with nine white triangular chevrons placed evenly apart around the entire ring. A small white ball, known as the gate bearing, hung from the ceiling, just touching the top of the gate. Dozens of elaborate symbols covered the entire perimeter of the halo-like contraption.

Gate addresses, which were needed to form a wormhole to another Stargate, required seven of these symbols in order to dial another planet. The first six chevrons represented points in space, like the faces of a cube, while the seventh represented the point of origin. An eighth chevron was required in order to dial another galaxy, and up until a few months ago, the purpose of the mythical ninth chevron had been unknown.

Eli's mind drifted back a couple of months, to the day when he had first stepped through the Stargate, arriving in the pitch dark he was standing in now.

After the surprise attack on Icarus Base, instead of dialling the Stargate to Earth, Doctor Nicholas Rush had dialled the nine chevron address in order to escape, against Colonel Everett Young's orders. _After I solved the power requirement issues_, Eli thought as his ego expanded a little. The eighty-plus escapees came through the Stargate to the Ancient ship _Destiny_, which was travelling in a far corner of the universe, billions of light-years away from Earth.

_Destiny_ was locked on an unknown course following a number of unmanned ships that were programmed to gather data and resources. These seeder ships then manufactured Stargates and deposited them on suitable worlds in their path.

The survivors of the Icarus attack were now stranded on the ship. Millions of year's worth of damage and neglect meant that the ship was unable to gather up enough power to dial the Stargate back to Earth.

"Eli?"a thick Scottish accent said, interlaced with static.

"Speak of the Devil..." Eli muttered, rolling his eyes, as he picked up the black, military issue radio from the console.

"Eli, its Doctor Rush. How is-"

"Look Rush, I'm working as fast as I can! The _Destiny_'s systems aren't exactly forthcoming when it comes to information about the Ancients biggest technological breakthrough," Eli said into the radio, frustration and exhaustion taking over.

"We just crossed the empty void between galaxies," Rush replied with annoyance in his voice. "The ship barely made it across, and the severe lack of power could have caused some serious damage."

"But we just recharged at a star-,"

"The power levels are still not at one hundred percent due to the damage the ship has sustained,"Rush stated matter-of-factly, reminding Eli of the tough times they had been through recently. "We need to make sure the gate can draw enough power to function, otherwise we will be unable to gather resources in order to survive."

"I know, I _know_..." Eli rubbed his eyes, trying to keep them open.

"Well then stop bloody complaining and get on with your work!"Rush yelled suddenly.

_He's losing it again._ Eli shrugged, a sign of resignation, and looked back down at the console. He pressed a couple of buttons, the console beeping in response. After a few moments, Doctor Rush changed his tone, as if he had calmed down a little. _But really he is just masking his irritation_, Eli thought to himself.

"Okay, Eli; work for another thirty minutes, then get some sleep."

"Thanks," Eli smiled, his spirits raised. "You should get some sleep as well, you know."

There was silence for a moment.

"I have work to do here in the control interface room."

Eli frowned; he sometimes forgot how much work Rush actually did, and how little sleep he got in return.

Most of the crew hated Rush for one reason or another; he was the one who had dialled the ninth chevron in the first place to satisfy his own curiosity. While the Machiavellian scientist had stranded them in a far corner of the universe, without him they would not have survived this long. Rush's knowledge of the Ancients was unmatched, and despite his problems with Colonel Young and the rest of the crew, they needed him, whether they liked it or not.

"Okay, but don't blame me when you collapse again," Eli said sarcastically. "I'll let you know if I find anything important."

"Thank you, Eli," Rush replied with a slight note of irritation.

Despite Eli's complaining, Rush was right; the Stargate was a miraculous piece of technology, and they needed to find out as much about it, as well as the _Destiny_, as possible if they were ever going to make it home.

Even the _idea _of the Stargate was mind-boggling at best; a_ round circle that could transport you to another planet via an interstellar wormhole?_ Despite it being several months since Rush had first knocked on his door, that idea still blew Eli's mind.

Eli's thoughts returned to the task at hand, and pressed a couple more buttons. _Back to work_, he thought with a reluctant sigh.

_Or not._

The immense groan of the _Destiny_'s engines was heard throughout the narrow corridors of the ship, and suddenly Eli's console lit up with data. The ship had dropped out of faster-than-light travel, or FTL, and had detected a Stargate on a planet nearby.

Eli's mind instantly filled with thoughts of exciting new alien planets. The _Destiny_ had finished a mammoth journey between galaxies just a few days ago, and Eli was dying to see what wonders this new galaxy held. _Maybe this one won't be filled with annoying blue aliens, disgusting worm-like creatures and the prospect of certain death every five minutes_, Eli thought hopefully.

Boom.

There was suddenly a loud crash. Eli was thrown to the floor violently before he could interpret any of the data. He yelled, pain shooting up his arm as he stared up at the magnificent Stargate. _Oh crap._

The chevrons on the gate lit up a brilliant white, and the entire ring began to spin clockwise. The gate stopped moving after a few seconds and the ball-like bearing lit up, locking the first symbol of the gate address. Then the entire gate began rotating again in the opposite direction, and the process was repeated for the second symbol.

Eli picked himself clumsily off the floor. His mind was racing; _what the hell is going on? Are we under attack again?_ His stomach plummeted, as a deep fear spread throughout his body. He began to sweat. _How could _they _have found us again? _Eli fished inside his pockets for the radio, and held down the 'transmit' button.

"Uh, Rush? Colonel Young? Anyone on this channel?" He yelled into the radio, his eyes growing wider with shock as he looked at the data on the console.

There was more turbulence; Eli was nearly knocked down again, but he supported himself on the Ancient console. Sparks flew all over the gate room, as the Stargate continued to spin.

"We've got a problem!"**  
**


	2. Chapter One

_Author's Note:_

___Lots of running around in this chapter, with some Rush and Young development. Some little hints about Scott and Greer as well. Hope you like it, please review if you read :)_

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Stargate Universe: Asteroids**

**By Mr Evil 37.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter One**

_Destiny: Corridors_

"Eli! I'm on my way!" Doctor Nicholas Rush yelled into his radio, breathing heavily as he dashed through the _Destiny_'s dark corridors.

"Faster would be better!"Eli replied, his voice frantic and hysterical.

Another voice came through Rush's radio; this one deeper and more deliberate. Rush frowned with dislike as he recognised who the voice belonged to.

"Calm down, Eli. I'm on my way to get Scott and Greer, and then I'm coming to the gate room,"Colonel Everett Young, the reluctant leader of the _Destiny _expedition, said reassuringly.

"Please hurry!" Eli yelled over the radio. "We're out of FTL, the gate's active, but... well, just hurry!"

There was another loud crash. Rush was thrown against the hard metal wall, pain shooting up his arm. _What the hell is going on? _It hadn't been long since their last alien encounter; Rush was not sure whether the weapon systems could handle another battle so soon.

Rush began to turn a corner, when –_bam!_ A person appeared out of nowhere, slamming head on into Rush. He grunted loudly, as they were both thrown to the ground. Rush quickly picked himself up, and saw that it was a civilian woman; he neither knew nor cared who she was.

"Doctor Rush, what the-," the woman began, before Rush interrupted.

"Do I look like I have time to chat? We have a situation, return to your quarters right now!" he yelled in his native Scottish accent, before setting off again at a sprint, leaving the woman to pick herself up of the floor.

Ever since they had arrived onboard _Destiny, _Rush had become increasingly irritated with many of the crew. They were the wrong people for the mission. He needed trained experts who believed in the mission; to explore the universe using the gate networks placed by the seeders.

He didn't need a Senator's daughter, or a military Colonel who was unwilling to make the hard decisions that needed to be made. The new crew of the Ancient ship needed to realise that they were here for the long run, and that fulfilling the ships original mission was the only way they were ever going to get home.

Not that Rush actually _wanted_ to go home. _I am perfectly happy here._

Nicholas rounded the last corner, entering the huge gate room. The turbulence was increasing; booms and crashes reverberated throughout the ship's hull. Eli was going crazy; he was moving between the two gate room consoles, pushing buttons and twisting dials frantically.

Eli's usually friendly face was contorted in shock and terror. His large build was accentuated by a thin red shirt, and his relative height was magnified by Rush's lack of.

"Rush! I need you to confirm this data, you have more experience...," his voice faded away, as more crashes resonated throughout the ship.

As Rush ran over to the console, he looked over at the Stargate; the event horizon of the open wormhole rippled like a pond as millions of tiny stones were dropped into it over and over again. The shimmering light illuminated the entire gate room.

"Have you sent a Kino through?" Rush asked curiously, referring to the small, ball-shaped Ancient cameras. They were sent through the Stargate in order to get a good look at the surroundings and to relay telemetry such as atmosphere and gravity back to the _Destiny_.

"No! I'm kinda busy right now trying to make sense of this!" Eli pointed at the screen in front of him, before raising both arms above his head as a sign of helplessness.

Rush looked at the data flickering across the screen, translating it from Ancient to English in his head. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Wow..."

_Destiny: Corridors_

Colonel Everett Young and Lieutenant Matthew Scott sprinted alongside each other, not saying a word. Young tried to ignore the immense booms reverberating throughout the ship, while thinking ahead about where he was going; Greer's quarters. The reluctant new crew of the _Destiny _had been there for months now, but all of the corridors looked the same and it was easy to get lost.

Young had no idea what was going on. _Eli or Rush would have said if the aliens were back_, he thought. That thought worried Young more however; at least then he would know what they were up against.

Young had been shaken from a nightmare by the first crashes; _at least it saved me the pain of reliving Icarus. _The Colonel had hurriedly dressed into his black Icarus Base uniform and hurried off to Lieutenant Scott's quarters. On the way, he had contacted Eli, who had mentioned an active Stargate; Young had no idea how much time they had before the jump back to FTL. That, coupled with whatever was colliding with the _Destiny_, gave great need for urgency.

On his way to Scott's quarters, he had radioed both Lieutenant Scott and Sergeant Greer; Scott had replied straight away, informing the Colonel that he was getting ready. Greer on the other hand had not answered. _It's not like him to not have his radio on him_, Young thought.

To his credit, Scott had been dressed and geared up by the time Young arrived at his quarters. The inexperienced Lieutenant had grabbed his G36 assault rifle, and followed the Colonel on his way to get Greer. Chloe Armstrong, the daughter of Alan Armstrong, the late Senator of California, had been buried under the bed covers, her facial expression filled with worry and concern.

Young hoped that Scott was able to keep his emotions in check; he had let his care for Chloe get in the way of doing his job several times in the last few months. The young Lieutenant also seemed to be slowly losing confidence in the Colonels decisions. _I'll be the first to admit that I have made mistakes,_ Young thought to himself, with one specific incident involving Doctor Rush coming to mind. _But I cannot afford to have my second in command doubting my decisions._

Young pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind; _I'll lance that boil when it emerges._

Scott had an athletic build, with his dark hair shaved in a close buzz cut. He was relatively tall, and was found rather attractive by the eyes of the female crew members.

"Do you think Greer will be awake, sir?" Scott asked jokingly.

"He damn well better be," the Colonel replied, smiling. "If he isn't, I'm going to kick his ass all the way back to Icarus."

Scott smiled at his joke, but almost instantly his smile receded, betraying the doubt that was creeping to the surface.

Scott was a good man; Young did not doubt this fact. He had been thrust against his will into a position of leadership by the evacuation to the _Destiny_, but so far he had surpassed Young's expectations: bringing back the lime needed for the CO2 scrubbers; on multiple occasions expertly piloting the only functioning Ancient shuttle; risking his life to replenish the _Destiny_'s water supply on the ice planet; and displaying all round admirable leadership skills.

_He has risked his life so many times_, Young thought with pride. _We would not be here if it wasn't for him. _The Colonel had no doubt that Scott would continue to impress.

The pair rounded a corner. On their left was a rusty metal door, tinted with a soft yellow/brown colour like the rest of the _Destiny_'s interior. There was a circular lock mechanism in the centre of the door made up of two stars placed on top of each other. The points of the stars featured black Ancient lettering, used for setting lock combinations.

Young slapped the button on the wall to the right; a sound half way between a beep and a hum was followed by the two stars spinning in opposite directions. With several clicking noises and a low hiss, the two sections of the circular door slid apart.

Inside, the warm lights illuminated a small cabin, with a reasonably lavish bed to one side. White stars flickered beyond the small window on the wall. Young looked around; no Greer.

"Where the hell is he?" Scott asked, concern laced in his voice.

Before Young could answer, his eyes passed over the elaborately patterned bed; a small, black radio lay on the sheets, turned off. _Goddamn it, Sergeant_, the Colonel thought with annoyance. A flack vest decorated with desert camouflage, along with Greer's black assault rifle and some more military equipment, was strewn across the cold metal floor.

Before Young or Scott could say anything, the Colonel's radio squawked.

"Colonel Young! Have you gathered Scott and Greer yet?" Rush asked hastily.

Young held the radio to his mouth. "Scott's with me, but Greer's not in his quarters and doesn't have his radio with him."

"Leave him," Rush said decisively. "Go to the observation deck first. I need you to confirm the data I'm receiving."

"It'll also get you up to speed quicker," Eli's voice said, less frantic now. "Plus you'll see a pretty amazing sight."

Young looked at Scott quizzically, who shrugged. Both soldiers then stepped into the room; Scott gathered by the flack vest and G36, while Young grabbed the military radio. They both headed briskly out of Greer's quarters, on their way to the observation deck.

_Destiny: Observation deck_

Three minutes later, the door to the ships large observation deck slid open; Scott and Young walked out onto the deck, and gazed with wonder at the magnificent sight before them.

The deck consisted of a relatively large open space, with a wide convex glass window giving a perfect view of ships front end along with the surrounding blackness. There were two central pillars near the window, with a metal hand rail extending all the way around the circular window. An assortment of Ancient tables and chairs, plus a long bench in the centre, made up the furnishings on the deck.

A tall silhouette was leaning against the metal handrail; Master Sergeant Ronald Greer. His posture was stiff as always, his hair shaved in a typical military buzz cut, his hands clasped behind his back. _What's he doing out here? _Young thought. _This isn't like him._

"Whoa..." Scott said, his mouth dropping open.

As the two soldiers moved closer to the hand rail, they gazed with wonder at the sight on the other side of the glass. Young temporally forgot his annoyance at Greer not having his radio.

Stretching out in front of them was the forward section of the incredible ship; it was relatively flat and triangular in shape, while both the left and right sides were markedly concave. The ship had a heavily textured surface, and clearly showed its age. There was a lot of visible degradation; hull breaches partially contained by the yellow energy shield.

From the observation deck, the three military personal could also see a few of the _Destiny_'s vast arsenal of double and triple barrelled energy cannons. Disrepair had led to many of these cannons being damaged. Firing them was dangerous, but had been necessary in several instances so far. _Let's just hope that they won't blow the ship up next time they are fired._

However; it was not the magnificence of the _Destiny_ itself that shocked the two men so  
much. Floating all around the ship were hundreds and hundreds of rough, spherical rocks of varying sizes and shapes. It was an ethereal sight; an ancient space craft thrusting a path through the free-floating rocks, which were likely ancient themselves.

Young and Scott joined Greer, placing their hands on the cold handrail. Young was speechless; _it's beautiful_, he thought with awe. The Colonel had seen many incredible sights since embarking on _Destiny_, and they never failed to take his breath away. _Sometimes I get close to understanding why Rush is so desperate to stay here.  
_  
"What are we looking at, Rush?" Young said into his radio, as he looked at Scott's shocked face and Greer's expressionless glare. _What is up with you, Sergeant? Why were you out here without your radio?  
_  
"We came out of FTL just outside of a giant asteroid field, and proceeded to plough our way right through it," Rush said in reply.

Young saw a smaller rock in the distance falling towards the front of the ship; it collided, and the energy shields shone a bright yellow as the asteroid broke up into several pieces on impact.

"Wow... a real asteroid field," Scott said, almost whispering with wonder.

"It really is incredible," Young stated.

"First Hoth, now an asteroid field... this really is _The Empire Strikes Back_!" Eli's sarcastic voice said over the radio. "Now all we need is a swamp planet and a city floating in the clouds."

Ignoring Eli's jokes, Young's eyes were drawn to a much larger asteroid that was drifting slowly among the other, small rocks.

Suddenly, Young was momentarily blinded by an extremely intense blue and purple glare; a glare this large asteroid had been hiding. He held up his arms to shield his eyes from the light, and screwed up his eyes tightly.

"Rush? Is that a star?"

"Yes, Colonel," came the reply, tinted with irritation.

_Well I'm sorry for not being an astrophysicist, Rush_, Young thought with resentment.

"But... It's blue," Scott said incredulously.

"Blue?" Eli said over the radio. "I've got to see this..."

Young heard Rush's muffled accent through Eli's radio; it then ceased transmitting with a fizzle of static. _Probably Rush reprimanding Eli_, Young thought.

More small asteroids began drifting towards and colliding into the _Destiny_. The force of gravity was working in splendid effect; a smaller mass attracted to a larger mass. Considering it was the size of at least five aircraft carriers, the _Destiny_ was undoubtedly the largest object in the immediate vicinity. The shudders were almost too small to be felt.

"Sergeant," Young said sternly. "Why don't you have your radio with you?"

Greer turned, and the Colonel slapped the Sergeants radio into his hand. Scott then threw the flack vest at Greer, who caught it, followed by the G36.

"I didn't feel like sleeping, sir," Greer said stoically, as he put the flack vest on.

"Is that all?" Young asked cautiously; Greer was very difficult to read sometimes. _Is his anger getting the better of him again?_

The Sergeant had had several confrontations with both Doctor Rush and Camille Wray, the ranking member of the civilian International Oversight Advisory, over the last few months and Young knew that the wounds would take a long time to heal. _If they ever heal at all_, Young thought doubtfully.

"Yes, sir," Greer said slowly, his voice deliberate and his face expressionless.

Young stared at Greer for a second, trying to see what was going on behind those cold, dark eyes. The Colonel knew that the Sergeants past had not been pleasant; he did not know the details, but he did not have to, for the effects were present today, and Young had to deal with them no matter what the cause was.

_Crash!_

Suddenly a larger rock appeared out of nowhere and crashed into the _Destiny_'s side. The immense shock wave from the impact vibrated throughout the entire ship; Young, Scott and Greer gripped the rusty hand rail tightly for support.

"How are we doing, Rush?" Young said into the black radio.

"Colonel, come up to the gate room,"Rush replied. "We have a very big problem."

There was a short pause; dread plummeted into Young's stomach.

"Young! We don't have much time, get up here right now!"


	3. Chapter Two

_Author's Note:_

_The crew devise a plan to save the ship from the asteroids - but will it work? Lots of tension and technobabble, with some Rush/Young stuff as well. _

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Destiny: Gate room._

Lieutenant Matthew Scott sprinted into the gate room, along with Young and Greer. Doctor Rush and Eli were each at different consoles, feverishly pressing buttons.

The Stargate was active, the event horizon of the wormhole casting a rippling blue/grey light across the entire gate room.

"Situation report," Young said sternly. "Rush?"

The haggard Scotsman looked up, his unkempt nature even more prominent than usual. Rough stubble was growing rapidly on his face; his long, brown hair tinted with grey was all over the place; and he looked as if he had not showered in days. _I doubt he's slept in days either_,Scott thought.

"Our situation is that _Destiny_'s shields are taking heavy damage from this constant barrage of asteroids!" Rush yelled, as another crash resonated throughout the gate room. "We have hull breaches in the uninhabitable compartments of the ship; if we don't do something to stem the flow of asteroid collisions, then the shields will fail."

Scott looked at a small Ancient screen above their heads, high on the wall opposite the Stargate. The Ancient digits ticked away fast, counting down.

"Our Ancient is a little rusty, Eli," Scott stated. "How much time until we jump back to FTL?"

"About twelve hours," the young mathematician replied. "But our shields will have long since failed by then."

Scott's mouth fell open in shock. Adrenaline began flowing through his military trained body, as his mind comprehended the danger.

"As I said, we have a problem," Rush said, irritated.

Young frowned, thinking hard.

"What about the Stargate? Have you sent a Kino through?" the Colonel asked.

"The ship being torn apart by asteroids is a much more pressing issue than what is on the other side of that wormhole, Colonel, so no; I have not sent a bloody Kino through!" Rush answered, his voice rising and growing more impatient.

"All right, all right," Young said irritably. "The _Destiny_'s shields managed to resist going through a star, so why the hell can't it resist this asteroid field?"

"When we recharge at a star, almost all remaining power is diverted to the shields," Rush replied. "Right now, power is being drained by other primary systems, which means the shields are weakened."

"Can't you deactivate those systems?" Scott asked.

"Oh, so you want the engines to fail, do you? Or the life support to go down?" Rush said sarcastically. "And even if I wanted to, we still can't access the ships core systems."

"Okay," Young said, frowning as he considered his options. "Okay, let me talk to the crew and reassure them that things are fine."

Rush's mouth fell open in disbelief. Scott bristled, ready to intervene if Rush lost control; he was clearly exhausted and burdened with stress. _Why does he do this to himself?_ Scott wondered. _What is so important about this ship that you are risking your health, Rush?_

"I think that this is a more pressing issue than raising moral!" Rush exclaimed.

Young turned to face the scientist, with his lips pursed and fire in his eyes. _And I thought the relationship between these two was improving_, Scott thought. The smallest catalyst could set off another confrontation between the Colonel and the scientist; _well, at least Greer and I are here to step in this time._

Although Scott doubted that Greer would prevent Young from beating Rush to a pulp.

"Just do it, Rush," Young ordered gruffly.

Rush glared at Young, before forcibly pressing a couple of buttons and activating the _Destiny_'s internal communication systems. He stepped back, and made a greatly exaggerated gesture at the Ancient console, his face the epitome of rage.

"Go ahead," Rush said, spitting the words out as if they were poison.

Young kept his eye on Rush, as he moved towards the console and began speaking.

"Attention, this is Colonel Young. We have a situation, so listen carefully," Young's voice echoed throughout the gate room, as it was played through the intercom system.

"Here are the facts: we have dropped out of FTL into a giant asteroid field, and the _Destiny_'s shields are taking heavy damage."

Rush glared at Young with anger. Scott could tell that the only thing the scientist wanted to do right then was to punch Young squarely in the face. _Don't do it, Rush._

Since the escape from Icarus, Rush and Young had had several confrontations; mostly shouting matches. However, there had been one incident on a planet that had caused deadly repercussions for the entire crew of the ship. Since then, they had both tried to make a special effort for the sake of the crew; Young would say that he had put aside his differences with Rush, but Scott was not stupid.

Rush believed that it was necessary to lie to the rest of the crew in order to raise moral. Young was unflinchingly loyal to the people under his command, and refused to lie to them, while his principles kept him from lying to the civilians.

"Do not panic, Doctor Rush and Eli are working on the problem. Just stay in your quarters and await further instructions. Young out."

Eli stepped forward and pressed a button to shut off the communication system, his boisterous smile of excitement long gone.

"You didn't need to tell them about the damage to the shields..." Rush said slowly, with ice in his voice.

"I'm not going to lie to the people under my command, Rush," Young replied.

Rush opened his mouth to retort, but stopped himself after a surprisingly hostile glare from Eli. _Good man, Eli_, Scott thought with admiration. The kid was certainly starting to grow a backbone. Rush shrugged heavily, a sign of resignation. But Scott knew that the scientist would not leave it at that; _this isn't over._

"Okay, so what are our options?" Scott asked; keen to avoid another conflict between the military commander and the lead scientist.

Rush took one last angry look at Young, before looking back at the Ancient console and pressing some buttons. His frown deepened.

Eli quickly made a suggestion. "Could we find a way to drain power faster? So that the ship will automatically leave this asteroid field to find a star?"

When the ships power reserves ran low, pre-programmed protocols were enacted that caused the _Destiny_ to find the nearest star. The ship then, protected by the shields, entered the stars orbit and proceeded to descend into the star itself. During this time it used fusion scoops to collect solar energy, thereby refilling its power reserves.

"That's a good thought, but no," Rush replied matter-of-factly, before grabbing onto the Ancient console after another boom vibrated through the ship. "Leaving the asteroid field at that speed would cause us to collide with many more rocks, and at a far greater velocity, which would likely collapse the shields."

Eli bowed his head, disappointed. Scott felt sorry for the young mathematician; Eli was new to all this, even newer than Scott. He had been recruited to the Icarus Project the day before the base was attacked; he was the one who had solved the mathematical problems surrounding the power requirements for dialling the ninth chevron.

Since Rush had recruited him, Eli had been working in Rush's shadow. He tried so hard to live up to Rush's expectations, and he seemed to value the scientists approval immensely. Scott knew that Eli was smarter that Rush gave him credit for; he had figured out the Icarus power issues after all, something that Rush had been trying to do for months. _You don't need to always work in his shadow, Eli_, Scott thought. Scott hoped that he realised that soon.

Suddenly, Rush slammed his hand down on the Ancient console, and began typing furiously. "I've got it!"

Young and Scott looked at each other incredulously.

"Please enlighten us, Doctor," Young asked.

"We have very little time!" Rush said. "Eli! Stay here and monitor the shield power levels. Radio me if anything changes."

"But, where are you-."

Rush raced out of the gate room; the fastest Scott had ever seen him run. Eli stood there in shock, before hurriedly returning his attention to the console.

"Rush!" Young yelled. "Get back here!"

The rogue scientist ignored the order, disappearing into the next corridor. Young stood, perplexed, before motioning to Scott to follow him and turning to Greer.

"Sergeant," the Colonel said to Greer. "Go and get Sergeant Riley, Doctor Park and Mr Brody up here right away."

"Yes, sir," the quiet soldier said in a low voice, before walking quickly out of the gate room by another door.

Before anyone else could speak, Young sprinted out of the gate room, chasing after Rush with Lieutenant Scott in tow.

Eli was left standing alone in the gate room, staring blankly, wondering what the hell was going on. He looked down at the Ancient console, and punched a few buttons, doing what Rush had told him to.

He then looked up at the active Stargate, admiring its magnificence, before lifting the military radio to his mouth.

"Uh, Greer? Could you fetch a Kino from my quarters and bring it up here as well? Thanks."

_Destiny: Control interface room._

Colonel Young and Scott followed Rush through the dark corridors of the Ancient ship for a minute or so, before coming to an abrupt halt as he entered the control interface room.

It was a circular room, with a central column-like structure plugged into three nearby Ancient computer consoles. This column was the control interface hub; the access point to the _Destiny_'s systems. Currently, the core systems such as navigation and propulsion were locked out by a master pass-code for security reasons, but Rush was still able to tap into many of the minor systems from this room.

Due to the interface hub's shape, Eli had nick-named the room the 'apple core', much to the disapproval of engineer Adam Brody. Young had no problem with Eli's jokes; _as long as they don't interfere with his work._

Rush was running from one rust console to another, frantically pushing buttons and twisting dials.

"Rush!" Young shouted, as Scott entered the room behind him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I think I can save the ship, but we don't have much time and I need to implement my plan now!" Rush replied, his voice raised and eyes fixed on the console screens.

_Boom!_

Rush grabbed the Ancient console tightly, as Young and Scott supported themselves against the wall. _Things are getting out of hand_, Young thought as he stared at the only man who could get them out of this situation. _Why does he have to be the genius?_ The one person Young hated more than anyone on this ship was the only person they could not live without. And it really pissed Young off.

"Explain while you work," Young ordered sternly.

Rush sighed heavily, before relenting; he knew that he did not have the time to argue_. I seem to be winning the arguments so far today_, Young thought, amused. _Let's see how long it lasts._

"We can use _Destiny_'s weapon systems to clear a path through the asteroid field," The scientist stated, while twisting a dial and moving to one of the other consoles.

"But doesn't that drain just as much power as the shields?" Scott asked, his face the picture of incredulity; _you obviously didn't like science as a kid, huh Scott?_

"Not quite as much as the shields," Rush said, before slamming his hand down on the console and yelling, "Come on!"

Young moved closer to the console; for what purpose he wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it was a leader's instinct to try and keep the people under his command calm. And that includes Rush, he thought begrudgingly. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that I am trying to do a hell of a lot of calculating and preparation in order to make sure the firing of the weapons doesn't cause the ship to explode!" Rush yelled impatiently. "I don't have the luxury of time, and I also need to enact the weapons auto-fire protocol."

Young and Scott looked at each other_; he really is losing it again, _the Colonel thought worryingly.

"And I have to do all this while explaining it all to you two!" the Scottish man yelled.

"Okay Rush, calm down," Young said. "If the firing weapons will use up power, why are we doing it?"

Nicholas Rush took a deep breath, and buried himself back in the data on the console before speaking again.

"The ship is in orbit around a planetary body because it has a Stargate on it," Rush stated. "This planet is in the middle of the asteroid field, orbiting around the sun. But, if we can clear a path along our orbit, then when the ship comes back around it will have little to no asteroids in its way."

"Which means no power will be drained by the shields _or_ the weapons," Young said slowly, as he realised the extent of Rush's plan.

"Exactly!" Rush exclaimed.

"Well, this plan sounds perfect to me," Young said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But then with you it's never that simple, is it Rush?"

The scientist looked up from his work, with fire in his eyes. Young immediately regretted his derogatory comment; _I just pissed him off even more._

"If you are asking me if there is a downside, yes, there possibly is."

_Fantastic_, Young thought.

"Many of the ships power conduits are still badly damaged, and the immense flow of power from the weapons could cause a huge overload, which could be catastrophic."

"Wasn't Sergeant Riley nearly killed trying to repair one of those conduits?" Young asked, his confidence in the plan decreasing exponentially with every passing second.

"Yes, Colonel, but we need to enact this plan _now_, or this ship will be torn apart when the shields fail," Rush said. "We will have to deal with the power conduits if and when that problem arises."

Rush ran across the room to another console, pressing a couple of more buttons, before speaking again. Young's mind raced; _he's not lying. Eli confirmed that the problem was real. I don't think Rush is doing this for his own purposes._

_But then he is a lying bastard_, Young thought.

"I'm nearly finished with these calculations. I would have liked to have Eli check them over, but obviously we don't have the time. Colonel, could you please head to the observation deck and radio me when you get there?"

"Why?"

"I'll need some eyes outside to let me know if my plan is working. The ships external sensors are among the many systems that are badly damaged," Rush explained. "And it'll be one hell of light show."

Young pursed his lips, thinking over his current options. The Colonel didn't trust Rush, and he certainly did not like him, but he knew that the scientist did not want to die. That was enough for Young.

"Okay, Scott and I will head over now,"

"Thank you, Colonel," Rush said spitefully, as Young and Scott exited the apple core.

One minute later, Rush was still frantically punching buttons. On one console, he brought up the power flow levels for the weapons systems; _everything seems normal. But then that's what I thought when Riley had his accident. _On the other two consoles he was initialising the auto-targeting protocol and keeping tabs on all of the damaged power conduits.

_This would be so much easier with access to the core systems_, Rush thought, frustration taking over. He lifted the radio to his mouth.

"Eli, what's the status of the shields?"

For a moment, all he heard was a muffled rustling; presumably as Eli picked up the radio.

"Shield power levels are all over the place! The asteroids are really taking their toll."

"Let me know if anything changes," Rush replied. "Colonel Young, are you at the observation deck yet?"

"Almost there, Rush. E.T.A: thirty seconds."

"Copy that."

The scientist hurried over to the second console, and pressed two buttons, enacting the auto-targeting protocol. He then sprinted back to the other console, bringing up the weapon controls; sweat dripped down his face, as his heart rate and breathing increased. Finally, he checked the power flow to them was within the green.

"Okay, Rush we're here," said Young's voice, laced with static, over the radio.

"All right," Rush replied, placing his left index finger on a button. He looked up at the control interface hub; the blue lights blinked away as it processed huge amounts of data simultaneously.

He thought about the enormous potential of this ship, the information it was capable of gathering. Hours after they had first arrived aboard, Rush had told Chloe Armstrong that _Destiny _could be the greatest discovery since the Stargate itself.

He could not allow the ship to be destroyed by some floating rocks; he would not fail himself, the Ancients or Gloria_. I cannot fail Gloria, _he thought defiantly. _I will not._

"Firing," Rush said, as he braced himself on the console.

He pressed the button.


	4. Chapter Three

_Author's Note:_

_I am really surprised by how much I am actually changing in my re-writes; cutting out whole sections of dialogue and replacing them, adding in character thoughts all over the place, adding in entire paragraphs. But I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would._

_A lot of danger in this chapter, as well as a lot of Rush vs. Young, with Scott and Eli in the middle._

_I hope you enjoy reading it :D_

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Destiny: Observation deck._

"Firing,"Rush's voice said over Young's radio.

A second later, every single one of the vast array of energy cannons that littered the _Destiny_'s exterior opened fire; yellow blasts of energy lanced out from the ship in great salvos. The blasts slammed into the oncoming asteroids, breaking the larger ones up and pulverising the smaller rocks to dust.

Young gazed at the cannons firing in quick succession, blasting asteroids out of the _Destiny_'s path. Smaller pieces of rock and dust impacted harmlessly against the yellow tinted shields, dealing virtually no damage compared to the larger asteroids.

It really was an incredible sight; the blue light from the star shining against the beautiful ship and the jagged rocks; the stars twinkling in the distance; the cannons unleashing pockets of fire from their barrels; the dust from the rocks glistening like diamonds in the star light. For a few moments, Young and Scott were too stunned to say anything.

Despite the ships age and degradation, it was still far more advanced and powerful than any kind of technology Earth currently had at their disposal. Young imagined that when the ship had just been launched, during the height of the Ancient civilisation, _Destiny _would have been a forced to be reckoned with. _With full control of the ships systems, our battleships would not stand a chance_, Young thought. _Good thing we control it then._

"Is it working?" Rush asked impatiently. "My sensors indicate a decrease in strain on the shields, but also a significant increase in power consumption..."

"Don't worry, Doctor," Young replied slowly, gazing with amazement out of the observation window. "It's working just-"

_Boom!_

The entire ship lurched suddenly; Scott and Young grabbed hold of the hand rail again for support. All of the pulse cannons ceased fire simultaneously. The deck was plunged into pitch darkness, before the ship lurched again and began to spin, front first. The _Destiny_'s top side began to plough into oncoming asteroids; it was then that Young's stomach plummeted with dread.

_The shields are down, _the Colonel thought with horror. _Oh my God._

The incoming asteroids were colliding with the ship itself, not the shields. Young watched as the tiny rocks punctured the _Destiny_'s hull all like dozens of needles into the skin. Artificial gravity prevented Young and Scott from losing their feet, but the Colonel still found the ship spinning extremely disorientating.

"What the hell is going on?" Eli yelled over the radio from the gate room.

"Power just went out throughout the whole ship!" Rush screamed in reply.

The Ancient vessel was still turning vertically, front first; smaller rocks impacted on the ship's hull like a vast meteor shower. The pulse cannons had broken up most of the larger rocks into smaller pieces that caused less damage, but were instead able to pierce _Destiny_'s hull.

Scott and Young grabbed hold of the metal railing as the ship lurched again, gaping in terror and shock at what was happening.

"We've lost console power in the gate room!" Eli said. "We can do anything."

"Same here in the control interface room," Rush's frantic voice stated. "Wait, hang on... Consoles are back up!"

"Rush!" Young screamed into the radio. "What happened?"

"The ship stalled!"Rush yelled back. "My limits weren't enough... the immense flow of power completely overwhelmed the power conduits."

"Both the shields and the engines are down!" Eli yelled, his voice breaking; _he's freaking out_, Young thought.

"FTL drive is also not functioning, and the weapons have been temporarily burned out...even life support is down!" Rush informed.

"So, basically we're screwed," Young replied gruffly. "You said you knew what you were doing, Rush!"

"I had seconds, not minutes, _seconds_, to put a plan together!" The shocked scientist retorted. "I had to deal with very complex calculations; ones I doubt your pathetic jarhead brain would be able to comprehend!"

_You bastard_, Young thought, as anger rose within him. Lieutenant Scott turned to look at Young; his face seemed to be some kind of warning. _Don't forget where your loyalties lie, Lieutenant._

_Bang!_

Young watched as a rather large asteroid scraped the top side of _Destiny_, leaving jagged scrap marks along the entire length of the ship. The screeching noise echoed throughout the ship, before the rock was deflected into space by one of the many textured elements that covered the ships surface.

"And at least I am actually trying to do something to save the ship!"

"For God's sake, it's always about the damn ship; never about the people onboard. People are more important than some damaged ship out in the middle of nowhere!" Young said, the anger boiling through him; spit sprayed from his mouth as he spoke. "So stop pulling excuses out of your ass, and get to work fixing this problem!"

"What do you think I'm doing, you ignorant-,"

"Shut up! Both of you just shut the hell up!" Eli's high pitched voice cut through the argument like a knife, silencing the warring Colonel and scientist; _we can't be doing this_, Young realised regretfully. _Not now._

Matthew Scott moved closer to Colonel Young, and spoke in a whispered tone laced with warning.

"Sir, you have to stop," he said; Young snapped up to stare into Scott's eyes. "Everyone on this ship is depending on you and Rush."

There was a painful silence; _he's right_, Young realised with guilt. _My resentment of Rush is endangering the lives of everyone under my command_.

_Again._

"Just fix it, Rush," Everett Young said bluntly into the radio.

Young then remained quiet, while Rush simply sighed, before Eli's stunned voice filled the awkward void.

"Doctor Rush, I've increased your power flow limits and transferred them down to your console. I'm pretty sure that they will work this time..."uncertainty was practically bursting through his voice; _you have nothing to worry about, Eli,_ Young thought. _You have a habit of saving our asses. I'm sure this time will be no different._

"I trust your ability at mathematics, Eli," Rush said calmly, before his voice turned to ice. "Unlike someone else's ability at leadership."

_Ouch_, Young thought sarcastically. _You think I care what you think about my leadership skills, you selfish bastard? _The Colonel knew that he was out of he was not doing a very good job at leading the _Destiny_ expedition; _I get that. _But just like the rest of the crew, Everett Young was not supposed to be here.

The Icarus Project was supposed to have been his last tour before he returned home to his wife; _I love and miss you so much, Emily. _Young had not even been a part of the expedition team; Colonel David Telford, who was back on Earth, was supposed to be in Young's place. _Christ, I wish he was here instead of me_, Young thought. _Despite the fact that he is an ass_.

"Okay, entering calculations now, resetting everything..."Rush said, absent minded, as if their previous argument had been forgotten.

Young new that it wasn't; Rush was pissed off, he could tell. The Colonel had a feeling that this confrontation was going to come back and bite him on the ass. _Let's just pray that Wray doesn't find out, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it. Hell, she might even try to take over the ship again. _While the thought that somewhat sarcastically, Young realised that it could actually happen again.

Young pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and stared out over the darkened ship. The tiny particles of dust and rock colliding with the ship looked almost beautiful from the observation deck, even though in reality the Colonel knew that they were causing great damage.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble from deep within the ship, and the pointed nose of the _Destiny_ immediately began to rise. _The engines are back on_, Young thought. The ship was levelling itself out. The rocks and dust were once again intercepted by the yellow shield. Lights began coming back on all over the ship, and there was a quiet hissing sound as the air began flowing through the vents again.

"Well done, everyone," Young said sincerely, his dislike of Rush temporarily forgotten. "Especially you, Eli. Great work."

A distinct laugh came through the radio; Eli was clearly pleased with himself. _Good_, Young thought. _The man deserves the ego boost._

"Thank you, Eli," Rush said. "I should have asked you to do the calculations to begin with. Well, now that certain death has been averted for now, let's get the weapons back up and running with the new power flow restrictions..."

Young ignored the techno-babble; he just stared out of the observation window at the immense silhouette of the _Destiny _against the stars.

Suddenly, the _Destiny_'s vast array of double barrelled pulse turrets opened fire once more, blasting nearby asteroids into oblivion and clearing a path for the ship.

"C-Colonel Young?" a stuttering female voice said over the radio.

Everett Young put aside his resentment towards Rush for a moment; like Greer's anger, and Scott's doubt, the Colonel would deal with that problem when it next arose. He lifted his radio to his mouth.

"Lieutenant Johansen?" Young asked softly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm in the infirmary, Colonel," Lieutenant Tamara Johansen stated, her voice wavering somewhat.

Known by her friends as TJ, Johansen was an Air Force field medic. After Doctor Simms had been killed at Icarus, she had taken up the mantel of ranking medical officer onboard _Destiny_. She found it difficult to cope sometimes, but she made do with what she had. _She's strong_, Young thought; _and kind, and beautiful, and caring._

_No, Everett,_ he thought to himself. _You cannot think like that; not anymore. The consequences of your actions have already reared their ugly head. This will just cause more problems with Emily._

His brain told him to stay detached, while his heart instructed him otherwise.

"We have wounded here; seven or eight people have come to me with potentially serious head injuries from the turbulence," TJ's voice seemed stronger now; _good girl,_ Young thought. _You can do it. _"I need help here; I can't do this on my own."

_Great; one more problem to add to the growing list, _Young thought with annoyance.

"I'll get Lieutenant James to gather some help and then send her down," the Colonel said in reply. "I have to sort out this asteroid situation, but I will come down as soon as I can."

There was a pause. TJ sighed over the radio, almost inaudibly, and then spoke; her voice a little quieter than before. _Is she disappointed? Or upset?_

"Copy that, Colonel," she said neutrally, before deactivating the radio with a fizzle of static. _Great, now she's pissed off at me too. Nice going, Everett._

Young pocketed the radio, before turning to Lieutenant Scott; he spoke heavily, as if carrying a huge weight on his shoulders.

"I'm heading to the gate room," Young stated matter-of-factly.

And with that, the troubled and conflicted Colonel walked slowly out of the observation deck, leaving Scott to stare at the huge ship and its magnificent surroundings.

_This is going to be a long day, _Young thought.

_Destiny: Gate room._

Nicholas Rush strutted into the gate room, wearing a grim from across his face, still fuming over his confrontation with Colonel Young. He stopped for a second, looking around at the faces that had all turned to look at him.

Eli quickly looked back down at the Ancient console, checking that the power levels were nominal, as Adam Brody, a relatively short man in his late thirties, looked over his shoulder. Sergeant Hunter Riley was stood at the console on the other side of the room, along with Doctor Lisa Park; a reasonably attractive dark haired scientist.

Sergeant Greer was also stood in the centre of the magnificent gate room, gripping an assault rifle in his typical stoic manner. As he turned towards Rush, he raised the rifle by a few millimetres, just enough to be noticeable. _What are you going to do? Shoot me? _

Greer and Park then turned to stare at the Stargate, as the nine chevrons lit up and the ring began to rotate. The gate stopped, and the gate bearing lit up, locking the first symbol of the gate address. The gate then began spinning in the opposite direction. _What an incredible device_, Rush thought with awe.

"Eli," he said gruffly. "What are you doing?"

Eli looked sheepishly at Rush before replying hesitantly.

"Uh, dialling the nearby gate..." He gestured at the grey ball hovering above his shoulder. "We were going to send a Kino through."

_Interesting contraptions, the Kino's_, Rush thought. The Ancients had designed them to be sent through an active wormhole, and to relay telemetry back to the ship to determine survivability. They also functioned as a camera, which was useful for getting a good look at a planet before any excursion through the gate.

Eli had chosen the Kino dispenser room as his quarters, and had begun to film a documentary about their expedition to the _Destiny_. Rush didn't approve of this; _he is playing trivial games that only succeed in wasting time when he should be working._

Despite Eli's occasional immaturity, he was still a genius and had proven himself on multiple occasions. He deserved Rush's trust; _just as long as he doesn't misplace his._

"Good idea, Eli," Rush replied. He smiled a little in amusement as Eli and Brody breathed a sigh of relief. _It's like their afraid of me._

Rush turned to look at the jump countdown, before speaking again. _"_We are relatively safe for now, and we still have twelve hours until we jump back into FTL."

"Exactly," Eli stated, as the gate locked another chevron with an electronic _thump._ "Might as well see what's on that planet, while we are here, right?"

Rush slowly moved towards Sergeant Riley's console, and pressed a couple of buttons. Riley frowned at the intrusion, but stepped back, shrugging in resignation.

"Well, I think that finding out why _Destiny_ took such a big risk dropping out of FTL in the middle of an asteroid field is a better reason to explore the planet than 'for the sake of it.'"

"You really think the _Destiny_ came here for a reason?" Eli asked curiously, as he picked up a small Ancient remote control up from the console.

It was not unlike a handheld video game console; _I'm sure Eli feels right at home using it._ The remote featured a small screen in the centre with a multitude of buttons and dials to both sides. The remote served two major purposes: flying the Kino ball and dialling a Stargate back to _Destiny_ from a planet.

"Almost certainly," Rush replied.

"Well, that makes sense," Riley interjected. "We know that _Destiny_ is reasonably intelligent. May not be a fully independent artificial intelligence, but it definitely does certain things for a reason."

"And coming out of FTL into an asteroid field is a huge risk to take, so there must be a really good reason why," Brody added.

Lisa Park was being very quiet; Rush found her to be relatively shy and lacking in confidence, but she was never afraid to voice her opinions or concerns. She was a good enough scientist, better than some of the other people on the ship, but her constant lack of certainty and confidence restricted her potential.

Then again, she might not have had anything to contribute. _Then why is she even here_? Rush asked himself.

"Exactly," Rush said. "And it is therefore safe to assume that whatever the ship deemed so important is through that gate."

"Or perhaps the asteroid field was not here when the seeders deposited the gate?" Eli suggested.

The final chevron of the gate address locked with another electronic sound, and the Stargate stopped spinning.

_Whoosh!_

Suddenly an immense funnel of energy erupted from the ring. Nicknamed the 'kawoosh', due the distinctive sound it makes, the burst of energy formed because of the creation of an unstable wormhole. After a couple of seconds, the unstable vortex retreated back into the ring, stabilising into the familiar puddle-like event horizon.

"Well, that never gets old," Eli said, a toothy grin on his face._ No, it doesn't_, Rush agreed.

Eli looked down briefly at the remote, before he manipulated the Kino controls and the ball began hovering slowly forwards towards the gate. It entered the event horizon with a tiny ripple, relative to the Kino's size. The two consoles instantly beeped as they began receiving data. _Time to see what mysteries this new galaxy holds_, Rush thought; he could barely contain his excitement.

"Whoa," Rush said, a hint of a grin creeping across his face. "That's interesting..."

"What is it?" Eli asked, as he moved round to look at Kino feed on the console.

"There is no atmosphere what-so-ever," the scientist stated. "The temperature is well below zero, and look at the Kino picture."

The video feed from the Kino was simply black; there was nothing. _That's odd_, Rush thought curiously.

"Is the Stargate in space?" Eli asked.

"I don't know."

"Uh, Rush? You might want to take a look at this," Brody interrupted, pointing at his console.

"What is it?" Rush asked, as he walked over to Brody's console. _Can't he do anything by himself?_

"I'm not sure if I'm reading this right..."

Rush looked at the screen for a few seconds, before his eyes widened in surprise. On the screen was a scan of a planetary body, with a red dot displaying the location of the Stargate. Incredulity rose within Rush; _how is this possible? _

The Kino feed then panned downwards, to the left, revealing a strip of grey stretching out for miles. A harsh blue light glared through the camera lens for a moment, before Eli pressed a button on the Kino remote to polarize the lens and reduce the flare. Rush then noticed hundreds of objects floating in the blackness, highlighted by the sunlight. _Asteroids_, Rush realised with shock.

"Eli, that gate isn't on a planet," Rush said quietly, as all of the present science team frowned with curiosity. "It's on an asteroid."


	5. Chapter Four

_Author's Note: _

_This chapter features a lot of interesting character developments, particularly from Greer, Scott and Eli. There is also a lot of set up for the really awesome exploration and danger that comes in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy :D_

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Destiny: Gate room._

The tall figure of Ronald Greer paced slowly from one side of the gate room to the other. He vaguely heard voices in the background; he wasn't listening.

The Sergeant looked at the shimmering blue and grey puddle within the huge Stargate with a rather blank expression. _Don't see what everyone finds so exciting about it_, he thought to himself. _Sure, it's cool, but that's about it._

While he could appreciate the technological impressiveness of the gate, he still considered it as nothing more than a tool. Greer admitted that he probably had a far more interesting job than the average soldier, but the reason he was here was not because he genuinely cared about exploring the universe. _That's why Rush is here_, Greer thought. _I don't think I will ever understand that._

_Let alone understand _him.

Greer was here because of the armed forces. He had nothing left back home; all he had were his few friends among the military, like Lieutenant Scott, and everything being in the military had done for him. He finally felt like he had a purpose, after years of anger and hate filling his life. _Now that that bastard is finally gone, I can get on with my life, not the life he wanted me to lead._

But even out here, in the farthest corner of the universe, he still felt as if he was being watched by his father.

_Stop thinking about him! He doesn't deserve that kind of recognition. _

Greer looked away from the gate, just as Colonel Young entered the room. Greer automatically stood at attention, snapping to a crisp salute, before Young spoke quietly.

"At ease, Sergeant," Young then fixed Greer with an odd expression for a moment; _is it suspicion? Or disappointment? Or pride?_ Greer found Everett Young a very difficult man to read at times, but the Colonel had always been straight with him. Ronald knew that the Colonel would come to him if he had a problem with his behaviour.

Doctor Rush hurriedly began explaining the situation to the commander of the expedition; the fact that the nearby Stargate was on an asteroid.

Surprising even himself, Greer had a lot of respect for Rush. Nowhere near as much as he had for Young, or Matthew Scott or any of the other military personnel onboard, but to get any form of respect from Master Sergeant Ronald Greer was still an achievement.

_Just because I respect him doesn't mean I have to like him_, Greer thought, grinning ominously to himself.

Rush may be a civilian, but since their confrontation on the desert planet, Greer's image of the man had changed. Before, he had seen him as an arrogant rich man who didn't care about anyone but himself, and did not understand the kind of hardship people less fortunate than him went through.

After their confrontation however, Greer had discovered that Rush had come from a very poor background in Scotland, before working his ass off to get into Oxford university. _He fought through the hardships of the world to earn his place there_, Greer thought. _Just like me._

Later, by ordering Greer to shoot Franklin in the shoulder, he had again proved that he deserved Greer's respect. Not many people had the kind of courage or authority to be able to instantly take charge of a situation, weigh up the options, and act.

_But if given the choice, I would still side with Colonel Young any day,_ Greer thought defiantly; _without a shadow of a doubt_. Greer still thought that Rush was an arrogant bastard. _And I would gladly put a bullet through his skull; whether we need him or not._

After collecting his thoughts, the Sergeant began to tune into the conversation in the gate room. Rush was speaking, his tone pretty much normal; he and Young seemed to be actively avoiding another argument.

"Whatever is on that asteroid, the seeder ships must have deemed it important enough to place a Stargate there for _Destiny_ to eventually find," Rush was saying enthusiastically. "Either that, or the Stargate was placed on a planet which was then destroyed by some kind of cataclysm."

"But what would cause the automated ships to risk themselves by flying into an _asteroid field_, just to place a Stargate?" Young asked, frowning.

"Honestly, Colonel, I have no idea," Rush replied, shrugging. "But as you said, that gate was deposited at great risk to the seeder ships. It must be important."

"It could be a way home," Eli stated timidly; _he doesn't really believe that_, Greer thought.

There was a pause; both Doctor Rush and Colonel Young looked round to face the young mathematician. Eli always seemed to be in between the two men, never quite knowing which side to take.

"Well, maybe not something quite that important, but your point is well made," Rush replied hastily, as if the prospect of a way home did not appeal to him, which Greer knew was true. "We need to see whatever is on that asteroid, Colonel."

There was another brief pause, as Young considered the options available to him at this point, his head bowed. After a moment he raised his head and smiled.

"You're right," Young stated matter-of-factly. "This could be important. You're leading the excursion, Rush."

_I'll bet that took quite an effort_, Greer thought sarcastically. Young found it tough enough knowing that the person he hated most on the ship the one person who was invaluable; but to actually agree with the man?

Rush could barely contain his excitement, a smile creeping onto his face briefly, before he regained control and spoke.

"Thank you, Colonel," the Scottish man turned to Doctor Park. "How many Ancient space suits are currently operational?"

The young woman, who was of Asian descent, looked up, her eyes wide. She was obviously surprised at being addressed after the two sided conversation between Rush and Young.

"Uh... Three, but one of them has only just been finished. We are pretty sure we fixed all of the air leaks..." she said nervously.

"Good enough," Rush said, before looking at Young. "Now, about the team..."

"Sergeant Greer can go," the Colonel answered. "You up for walking around on an asteroid in a million year old space suit, Sergeant?"

_Great, this is going to be fun_, he thought. Greer could not say that he was excited at the prospect of taking part in a mission being led by Nicholas Rush. The Sergeant also didn't particularly want to risk his life for something that he had no interest in: exploration. Then again, he could not disobey a direct order from the Colonel; _correction, I _won't_ disobey a direct order. I won't let him down._

Greer turned, looking first to Young, and then to Rush with frown of distrust. _Yep, respect and trust are definitely not the same thing._

"Always, sir," Greer replied with grim determination, as he gripped his assault rifle tighter.

Rush frowned for a moment, before he collected himself and covered up his disdain at the idea of Greer being part of the team. _I'm not overly happy at the situation either, Rush._

"Perhaps Lieutenant Scott would be better suited for this mission," Rush said cautiously, keeping a wary eye on Greer. "He... has more experience with spacesuit missions."

_Nice save_, Greer thought sarcastically. _Do you really think anyone will buy that?_

"No, I want Scott here to assist me if any other problems arise," Young said, before he noticed both Rush and Greer's annoyed expressions. "Is that a problem?"

There was a pause; the awkwardness of the conversation could be felt by everyone in the room. Lisa Park shifted comfortably, while Eli, Reilly and Brody buried themselves in the console screens, pretending as if they were not listening. However, Greer knew that the trio were actually enthralled by the conversation.

"No, sir," Greer said after a sideways glance at Rush; _as long as he doesn't screw us over again._

There was another agonising pause; _come on, let's get this over with, _Greer thought restlessly. He preferred action over inaction any day.

The painful silence was obliterated by a voice blurting out a rather ridiculous request.

"Can I go?" the voice suddenly said, startling Rush.

Both Colonel Young and Doctor Rush turned to face the speaker, surprise spreading across their faces simultaneously, followed by a slight hint of annoyance.

The speaker was Eli Wallace. _Fantastic_, Greer thought.

_Destiny: Observation deck.  
_

Matthew Scott looked out over the magnificent ship, as it cut a path through the asteroids. The weapons fired yellow bolts of energy, causing the rocks to disintegrate and break apart, clearing the way for the _Destiny_. Chloe Armstrong had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, as they both gazed out into the blackness of space, the stars blinking in the distance.

The blue hue from the nearby star cast an amazing shade of colour on the yellow tinted _Destiny_, as well as on the stark grey rocks floating around her. _It's beautiful_, Scott thought with awe. _Everything out here is. _And yet most of the incredible things Scott had seen had also been extremely dangerous.

Colonel Young had left the observation deck about half an hour before; heading for the gate room. Scott had simply stood alone on the observation deck, clearing his head and contemplating the deteriorating relationship between Young and Rush. _This has to stop_, Scott thought. Their conflicts often put the lives of everyone on the ship at risk, and Scott had a duty to the rest of the crew to keep them safe. _Even if that means going against Colonel Young._

After about thirty minutes, Chloe Armstrong had appeared behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She had surprised Scott, but her presence was welcome; she soothed him when the stress of his position became overwhelming.

"It's beautiful," Chloe said, as her eyes widened in awe.

"Yes, it is," Scott replied with a sigh.

Chloe let go of the tall soldier, and moved round so she was facing him, her back to the observation window. The blue light radiated off her light, smooth skin and long, dark hair. _She is absolutely stunning, _Scott thought. _The most beautiful woman I have ever met in my life._

"What's wrong, Matt?"

He hesitated for a second; he wasn't sure whether he should reveal his doubts. She looked to him for reassurance that everything was going to be okay, and he provided to the best of his ability, even though he knew that they would likely never make it home. _I don't want to worry her even more_, Scott thought. _But I can't lie to her either._

"It's just that... well, since we arrived here I have seen incredible things," Scott said in the end, his voice laced with uncertainty. "Every time I have stepped through the Stargate, I have seen amazing sights and had my mind blown away."

His mind drifted back over the last couple of months, picturing certain images from his adventures: a never ending desert; a deep sense serenity that had embodied the ice planet; utterly alien plants and insects; flying the shuttle in a faced past dogfight; living for a month in the most beautiful paradise imaginable.

"But everything out here could kill us so easily," Scott said, his frowned deepening. He felt Chloe's hands slowly caressing his back, as her concern spread across her face. "The stars, the planets we visit, these asteroids, even the ship itself."

It seemed like every day they faced certain death; _I'm sick of it_, Scott thought. He wanted Chloe and his friends, like Eli, Greer and TJ to be safe. _Especially TJ_, Scott thought. _I wish I could help her._ Tamara was in a very tough situation at the moment, and a spaceship in a far corner of the universe was not an ideal place to... deal with it.

"We've done fine so far, haven't we?" Chloe asked, taking his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "We're not dead yet. No matter what the situation has been, whether it was crashing into a sun or defending ourselves from aliens, we have always survived."

Matthew looked deep into her gorgeous eyes. Y_ou don't really believe that_, he thought. He could see it in the way her blinking had accelerated; the uncertainty was obvious. _You're trying to reassure yourself just as much as me. _

"It's not just the external dangers I'm worried about," Scott stated, his head bowed.

Chloe cocked her head, her expression half curious, and half concern. "What do you mean?"

"Rush and Young never stop," Scott replied, his voice laced with worry. "And it's getting worse and worse. One day, it will come to a point where neither of them will be able to hold themselves back, and someone will get hurt."

Chloe put her arms back around Scott, before he spoke again, his voice a little quieter.

"Again," Scott added.

The last time they had lost control had not been pretty, and had caused a huge rift between the military and civilians that could have resulted in death; _thank God it didn't._

"Don't worry, Matt. Colonel Young has learned his lesson; he won't let himself lose control again."

Scott could again tell that she did not really believe that. She had seen Young give in to his anger to many times.

"Maybe it'll be Rush who loses it this time," Scott suggested.

"I'm sure Greer would have something to say to Rush if that happened," Chloe said, smiling, half joking.

"Very true," Scott said, completely serious.

Chloe had a good point. If Rush turned on Young, and it got violent, Greer would be right there. _I doubt he would have any problem with killing Rush_, Scott thought with dread. That just made Scott more worried about the consequences if things exploded out of control.

The problem was that Young believed that Rush's apparent disregard for anything other than _Destiny_ was risking lives. Ironically however, Rush's knowledge of the Ancients and his willingness to do whatever it takes to uncover the ships secrets was what had saved them all from being killed time and time again.

Scott knew that the irritable scientist was their only hope of surviving a considerable length of time out here. However, Colonel Young could not accept this, and allowed his grudge against the man to cloud his judgement. No one particularly liked Nicholas Rush, but he was the closest thing they had to an expert, and therefore the only person who could maybe get them back to Earth one day.

Scott looked down at the woman in his arms, the light from the star giving her dark hair a blue tint. _She really is beautiful_, he thought. It was actually distracting.

Scott had offered Chloe a shoulder to cry on after her father, Senator Alan Armstrong, had died aboard the ship. She had been extremely vulnerable, and had needed support to make it through the ordeal. He knew that she had needed it. _I know what it's like to lose family._

Before this, she had studied political science at Harvard before becoming her father's personal assistant. _Not exactly a suitable career path for exploring the universe_. She didn't know what to do with herself aboard, and many of the crew thought of her as a waste of space, Rush included. Chloe had needed someone to convince her that she was not worthless; _that someone turned out to be me. And Eli._

Scott and Chloe's relationship had then developed further. It still amazed Scott that two strangers could be thrust together in a life or death situation, and emerge on the other side firmly by each other's side.

She had helped him more than she would ever know. Scott had been forced into a position of leadership against his will, and he sometimes had a hard time dealing with the responsibility. If he made a bad decision at a crucial point, people could die. _People have died_, he thought sombrely. _And more people will. And it could be my fault._

On Icarus Base, if there was a problem Scott would have let someone else sort it out. _But here_, he thought, _there is no one else. If the Colonel can't do it, then it falls on me._ That was why Scott had stepped up when the earlier argument was getting out of hand, because if he didn't no one else would. _TJ can't be stepping in between those two in her condition, especially since it involves Young. That leaves me._

Chloe made it easier; little things, like listening to him when he needed her to, or complimenting his leadership, meant a lot to him and helped him to deal with the stress.

_But she also makes it harder_, Scott thought. _If I fail, if can't handle it, she will suffer just as much as the rest of the crew_. And that broke his heart, because the last thing Scott wanted was to be responsible for something happening to her. _She could die. We all could die._

Colonel Young was right about one thing: _everything we do out here is a risk. _And that was not going to change anytime soon.

Suddenly, Matt's deep train of thoughts was interrupted by a deep voice through his radio.

"Scott, this is Colonel Young, please come to the gate room."

He moved Chloe's arms away reluctantly so he could reach his radio. The lieutenant fished it out and held down the 'transmit' button.

"Roger that, sir; I'm on my way."

He lowered the radio from his mouth, and looked at Chloe adoringly, before kissing her good bye and picking up his assault rifle from the bench. _I love her,_ he thought. _I think I love her_. For the first time in his life, Scott had experienced real love. And it had happened billions of light years away from home.

He headed through the door, on his way to the gate room, leaving Chloe alone to observe the majesty of the asteroid field.

_Destiny: Gate room._

"This is _so_ cool!"

Eli examined his arms and legs, which were now encased in think, rusty metal, with a huge grin on his face.

The Ancient environmental suit featured a black under suit made of a thin rubber-like material, with several metal plates covering the main areas of the body. These plates, which included two bulky shoulder pads, were heavily textured and appeared to be extremely durable. The gold colour of the metal was faded from millions of year's worth of neglect. Small blue and white lights flickered and blinked on the two chest plates.

Eli moved his arms up and down, testing how much mobility he had. This was the first time he had been given an opportunity to use one of the space suits that they had found onboard _Destiny_, and Eli was rather excited, despite the dangers.

Rush looked over, as the scientist attached the final plates to his own space suit, and shook his head with disapproval.

"It's not a toy, Eli," the scientist said, annoyed; _lighten up a bit, Rush._ "That suit will be the only thing keeping you alive in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Doctor Morbid," Eli said sarcastically.

Rush rolled his eyes, saying nothing. _Why is everyone always so serious?_ Eli could not understand it. _What's wrong with a little laughter once in a while? It helps stave off the depression of certain death._

Eli, now almost fully suited up, picked up his helmet from one of the Ancient consoles. The headpiece comprised of a re-breather type contraption that covered the nose and mouth on the lower part, with a wide convex glass visor and two small spotlights on either side for low light vision.

He placed it over his head, and heard it click as it interlocked with the seal on the neck of the suit. The re-breather hissed as it began pumping air into the suit. _Great, _Eli thought with mild discomfort. _Now I'm living on a time limit._

All sound was suddenly muffled; beeps from the consoles as Riley and Brody pushed buttons, voices, clicks and scrapes as Doctor Park helped Rush get suited up. It was a strange feeling; all Eli could hear was his own breathing inside the suit. He felt completely isolated and disconnected from the world around him. _Very cheerful thoughts, Eli, _he thought to himself.

Greer was already in his suit, and was checking his G36 assault rifle: _again, _Eli thought. _He really tries to emphasise his 'tough man' look in front of Rush. _Just as this thought crossed Eli's mind, Greer gave Rush a rather threatening look.

"Greer, you hear me?" Eli said, trying to distract Greer before Rush noticed the Sergeants expression.

"Roger that, Eli," the low, calm voice of Ronald Greer said, his voice only mildly distorted through the suit radio. The radios between individual suits were voice activated. "Get ready, we're going as soon as Rush is ready."

"Yes, sir!" Eli said mockingly; Greer responded with a very stern frown. Eli got the hint, and began walking slowly over to the Ancient console.

His movement was restricted somewhat by the bulky suit, and the heavy boots clanged loudly against the ancient metal of the _Destiny_'s floor.

He picked up the Kino remote from on top of the console and began fiddling with the controls, when Lieutenant Scott entered the gate room; he looked around at the large amount of activity going on around him, curiosity spreading across his face.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Colonel Young turned to face him, arms crossed, his face wearing the smallest of frowns. _Lighten _up_, Colonel_, Eli thought. _If anyone needs to, it's you._

"The Stargate is on an asteroid," Young stated, before seeing Scott's incredulous expression and adding, "It doesn't make any sense to us either. We're sending an off-world team."

"You don't have to go, Greer," Scott said, looking over at the stoic Sergeant. "I've done EVAs before. I'll go."

Greer shook his head. "Not this time, Lieutenant. You don't need to risk your life again. Besides, I could use the practice in the suit."

Scott sighed. He knew that he was not going to win this argument. "Fair enough."

He then noticed the other, less likely member of the away team.

"Uh, Eli..." Scott said with great worry laced in his voice. "Are you sure you should be going?"

"Sure, why not?" Eli asked, his voice projected into the room via external speakers on his suit.

"It's just that...," he hesitated. "Well, you're going to be on asteroid, in a pressurised suit. And you've never used the suits before."

"I know," Eli said, annoyed; _why does everyone treat me like a child? I can handle myself._ "Look, Matt, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm going, okay? You can't stop me. I've been off-world quite a few times, and like Greer said, we need the suit experience."

Scott opened his mouth to retort, but Rush interrupted.

"Don't waste your breath, Lieutenant. We've tried."

Eli turned back to the console, and picked up the round Kino. He activated it, and let it float in the air as it began recording. _No way am I missing the chance to get some footage from the surface of an asteroid_, he thought, excitement bubbling within him.

He then sensed someone behind him, but the bulky suit prevented him from turning to see who it was. Invisible hands started releasing his shoulder places, before the person spoke.

"Look, Eli, if you're going to use the suit, at least get someone who actually knows how to put it together to check it for you," Scott said with exasperation.

Eli rolled his eyes inside the suits visor.

"All right, Lieutenant 'punctured a hole in the suit on the ice planet'" Eli said sarcastically; _okay, I'm using those types of jokes way too much._

Scott re-attached the shoulder plates the right way round, before physically turning Eli round to check the rest of the suit. _Wow, he's strong._ The space suits were very heavy, and Eli was having a hard time keeping up right.

"Very funny..." Matthew said, before slapping him twice on the shoulder. "Okay, you're good."

When Scott had finished his check, Eli looked down at him through the grimy visor, and smiled warmly. _I couldn't ask for a better friend_, he thought appreciatively. _Despite his over protectiveness._

_Except Chloe. She's a better friend..._

"Thanks, by the way," he said sincerely.

"No problem, buddy," Scott replied, smiling in return.

Rush quickly attached his helmet, and picked up a small case of supplies, as Eli clipped the Kino control pad onto the wrist of the suit; _very utilitarian, the Ancients. _Rush and Greer both activated the spot lights on their helmets, with Eli hurriedly following suit. The powerful lamps shone brightly in the dark gate room.

The Sergeant took a firm grip on his assault rifle, before finally cycling the bolt, loading a round into the chamber. Eli could see Rush's weary expression, even through the dirty visor.

"Let's hope you don't have to use that," he said in his heavy Scottish accent.

"You can," Greer replied, smiling; _what a character_, Eli thought. "We're ready, Colonel."

"We'll keep the gate active, so check in regularly," Young ordered; Rush rolled his eyes again.

"Yes, sir," Greer said.

Adam Brody looked up at the jump countdown high on the wall behind the two consoles; the Ancient characters continued to tick away, emphasising the fact that they were on a time limit. If the off-world team did not return by the time the countdown ended, the ship would jump back to FTL, and they would be stranded.

_Great_, Eli thought. _But we'll be out of air long before they leave us behind. _That thought echoed the words he had said to Scott when he had left for the ice planet; now he realised how degrading it was. _Sorry, man._

"Just over eleven hours until we jump back to FTL," Brody said neutrally; _good old Brody, always serious. _The engineer still refused to call the control interface hub the apple core, despite the fact that the entire science team did it. _Except for Rush, of course._

"But around eight hours of air," Lisa Park interjected.

Young then spoke, putting his arms behind his back. "So to put it bluntly, don't hang around."

"Thank you for your concern, Colonel," Rush said sarcastically.

"We'll be careful," Eli said quickly, before Young retorted.

Doctor Rush, Sergeant Greer and Eli all turned to face the active Stargate, the hazy blue light reflecting off their suits. Greer raised his G36, and began to walk forward as quickly as he could in the bulky environment suit. The other two followed his lead, Eli barely able to contain his excitement. _I bet under that exhausted exterior Rush cannot contain his either_, Eli thought humorously

Greer walked through the Stargate, the puddle-like event horizon rippling around his large body like water. The Sergeant disappeared. Eli stopped just in front of the event horizon, staring in wonder; _I am about to be broken down into molecules, and transported through space to the surface of an asteroid! _

Before entering the Stargate, Nicholas Rush stopped next to Eli and turned around slowly. From what Eli could see, he was staring into the face of his distrusted rival. Colonel Young's frown deepened, before he spoke, with ice in his voice.

"Good luck."

Doctor Rush simply nodded, his own distrustful frown deepening, before turning back and walking through the Stargate. Eli quickly followed suit, putting his discomfort about Rush and Young's relationship out of his mind.

He stepped forward into the unknown; _this is going to be cool._


	6. Chapter Five

_Author's Note:_

_This chapter originally had the subtitle "Escalation", and if I had not got rid of all chapter titles, I would have kept it, for it was very appropriate. This is where the shit really hits the fan. Lots of danger, screaming, beautiful alien vistas, Rush development, Young development, revelations about TJ, and emotion in the later scene. This is also one of my longest chapters. Enjoy._

_(Revised)_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Asteroid: Surface, near Stargate._

Doctor Nicholas Rush emerged on the other side of the Stargate; every single molecule that made up his body had just been broken down, transported through a wormhole and re-materialised on the other side. _I'm surprised that it doesn't hurt_, Rush thought to himself.

He stepped forward, the event horizon rippling as he exited the Stargate, and slowly moved down a smooth metal ramp. He found it increasingly difficult to walk; the gravity was well below Earth standard, but it did make the space suit a lot lighter and easier to manoeuvre.

As he reached the dirt surface of the asteroid, the scientist was immediately forced to turn away by the blinding blue light, coming from the huge star in the distance. Rush's mind instantly began theorising what gases could possibly be being burned in the star to create that ethereal blue glow; _I wish you were here, Gloria._

Sergeant Greer scanned the immediate area, his assault rifle braced against the bulky environmental suit; Rush noticed with amusement that the suit and the helmet made it extremely difficult to aim down the iron sights. Eli was looking all around him, his excitement evident; he had the Kino remote in his hand, and was manoeuvring the small ball camera, recording their surroundings.

"Holy crap...," Eli whispered, his voice slightly distorted through the suit radios. _Could not have put it better myself_, Rush thought with wonder, as he stared out at their incredible surroundings.

They were standing in a huge, grey wasteland, pock marked with immense craters. _Likely from other asteroid collisions_, he theorised. The landscape carried on forever all around them; a never ending desert of grey dust sunken holes. Rush had never seen anything so desolate and barren in his entire life; there was absolutely no chance of any form of life being able to survive there.

The azure from the star cast an eerie hue over the grey asteroid; it was almost as if the dust itself was shining and reflecting the light. _Perhaps the dust is made up of some kind of metallic element? _Whatever the explanation, it was one of the most beautiful sights Rush had ever seen in his life. Each grain of dust looked like a tiny diamond in the light.

"That's... that's...," Eli stuttered, completely lost for words; throughout their travels on the _Destiny_, they had never seen anything like this. Rush could not imagine trying to describe the vista to someone else; _it would be almost impossible!_

Eli finally found the words he was looking for. "Oh my God, that's beautiful!" Greer responded with a low grunt; _barbarian_, Rush thought. _How can anyone not be stunned by this?_

Above the trio, the asteroids floated and drifted in space, crashing into each other. _Bloody hell, _Rush said to number of asteroids was simply staggering. The field was so dense; most of the twinkling stars were invisible behind a constantly shifting veil of rock. _There must be millions of them! Maybe even billions._ The light from the sun reflected off them brilliantly, before they were blasted into dust by bursts of yellow energy lancing out from somewhere behind Rush.

Rush spun on an axis, turning to face the magnificent Stargate itself, which was identical to the ship-board gate in almost every way. Planetary gates lacked a gate bearing, and where imbedded within a large metal ramp. The event horizon cast rippling shadows across the pock marked asteroid surface, while the blue sunlight glinted harshly on the metal of the Stargate. The nine chevrons shone with a brilliant white, contrasting starkly with the black of space.

Behind the gate, another shape began to emerge from behind the veil of asteroids; volleys of yellow light lancing out from various points along it.

_Destiny, _Rush realised.

The magnificent space craft pierced through the asteroid field like an arrow through trees. Despite it still being a way off in the distance Rush could make out the surface of underside and the silhouette of the entire ship. _I was on that ship a few moments ago_, Rush realised.

_Destiny _herself was very long, but relatively flat and triangular in shape. Both the left and right sides were markedly concave, while the aft portion of the ship was convexly rounded. The entire surface of the ship was covered in layers of textural elements.

"The surface of the ship is like the _Death Star_!" Eli exclaimed through the suit radio.

"Shut up, man," Greer said quickly; for once Rush actually agreed with Greer. _Never thought that would happen_, Rush thought, surprised.

As the amazing ship drew nearer to the asteroid, Rush noticed movement on the underside of the bow. Three huge metal rods emerged from the _Destiny_'s hull; yellow lights flickered on along the entire length of the huge tubes. They looked almost like... _weapon barrels._

_Oh no, _Rush realised with horror.

Rush instantly forgot about the beautiful surroundings; the thoughts were crushed inside his mind underneath the fear of what was about to happen. Rush pressed a button on the Kino control pad that was attached to the suits wrist, tying into the _Destiny_'s internal communication systems through the Stargate.

"Colonel Young!" he exclaimed, his voice deafening him inside the visor. "De-activate the weapons systems now!"

"But what about the astero-," Young began incredulously.

"The main cannon is powering up! _Destiny _must have realised that this asteroid is too large for the standard turrets!" Nicholas Rush yelled as the lights stopped flickering on the immense cannons; _oh Christ. _"It's about to fire on _this_ asteroid!"

For a moment there was no response; _have we lost radio?_ For a few agonising seconds fear took hold of Rush, before Young's voice returned and the terror was banished somewhat.

"Okay, Rush, Brody is working on it, but it's going to take a few moments."

"Tell him to hurry!"

Now fully powered up, the three cannons finally unleashed their power. One after another, huge blasts of yellow energy shot out from the three cannons and lanced across space. Rush stared at the pockets of yellow light. _Oh my god._ They were getting closer and closer. A fraction of a second away. Rush braced himself for the impact, when suddenly-

_Nothing. _No sound.

The pockets of energy impacted against the asteroid about half a kilometre away from the team; the explosion was _immense_, the light temporarily blinding . The impact sent violent tremors throughout the ground; Rush staggered around as he fought to stay on his feet. The explosion suddenly vanished for there was not enough air to sustain the fire. _But there is a little air; otherwise the explosion would not have happened in the first place._

There should not have been air on an asteroid. _How is that possible? _These thoughts were expelled from Rush's mind when he saw the devastation left behind by the cannons.

The cannon blast had created a new crater on the surface of the asteroid; it was absolutely _huge. _Rush had never seen a crater so big. Even though it was half a kilometre away, he could still make the immensity of the hole. Thousands of pieces of debris of varying sizes were propelled violently in all directions; some peppering the dusty asteroid surface, some drifting off into space to become part of the field.

Rush had never seen anything so destructive in his entire life. _Destiny_ was not a war ship by any means, but it would still be virtually impossible to defend against huge barrages from the ships huge arsenal.

The tremors continued, and the scientist's thoughts were suddenly shattered as debris from the impact cascaded all around them like rain. Rush spun, momentarily stunned into inaction. He could vaguely hear Eli's frantic yelling and Greer grunting an order. A thought crossed Rush's mind for a fraction of a second: _we are going to die_.

Rush saw Sergeant Greer take a step forward, the low gravity appearing to slow down time. Suddenly there was another huge tremble in the ground, and Sergeant Greer was thrown to the floor by the tremors. His finger inadvertently pulling the trigger of his G36.A burst of bullets shot silently into the empty vacuum of space; they would never ever stop moving, unless hit by something.

Eli and Rush had had both feet firmly planted on the ground, and therefore had not been tossed to the floor.

And throughout all of this chaos, Rush heard no sound. It was the most eerie experience the scientist had ever had. Rush looked around and spotted the Destiny again, flying through the asteroid field in the distance. His gut filled with a cold dread once more, as lights flickered along the main cannons again.

"Colonel! The cannons are about to fire again," Nicholas screamed into his helmet. "They're going to tear this rock apart, with us on it!"

No response. The lights were growing brighter along the huge barrels as the guns prepared to fire. _Another blast will rip an enormous chunk out of this rock_, Rush thought with horror. _Killing us._

They were about to fire; any second now.

_I love you, Gloria._

Rush closed his eyes and prepared for the impending fire.

But it never came. Then a voice blasted through his helmet radio.

"The weapons are offline, Rush," Colonel Young's voice said, intermingled with static. "You all okay?"

Rush slowly opened his eyes; they took a moment to adjust again to the harsh light from the star. Jagged chunks of rock floated ethereally around the trio, reminding Rush of deep sea footage. _We are alive_, Rush through as relief washed over him. _I am alive!_

He looked back at the underside of the _Destiny_; the lights across the three immense pulse cannons darkened, and the long barrels began to retreat back into their compartments within the hull of the ship.

"Rush? Are you receiving?"

Rush's mind was jolted back into action, and he hurriedly began speaking, his voice wavering.

"We're all right, Colonel."

"Speak for yourself," Greer growled abrasively, as he tried to get to his feet.

The Scottish man dropped his case of supplies and began walking towards the slumped space suit that was Sergeant Greer, getting used to the lower gravity. _These suits are certainly lighter here than on the ship._

"Thank you, Colonel," Rush said; _I can't believe I just said that._ "Thank you everyone."

He truly meant it. Often he was convinced that the entire science team, except for himself and Eli, were completely incompetent, but he was occasionally proven wrong. But this was the first time they had actually saved his life; Rush would not show it, but he was eternally grateful.

Once he reached Greer, who was immobilised on his back due to the heavy environmental suit, Rush knelt down with great difficulty and took hold of both arms, lifting with all his might.

"Perhaps you should have the safety on," he said, gesturing at the Sergeant's assault rifle. "No need to waste ammunition, and we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

"That sure would be a shame," Greer stated with a threatening smirk.

The annoyed Sergeant grunted as Rush pulled him to his feet; the scientist showed absolutely no concern about whether Greer was injured or not.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," Eli said grimly. "But then I guess that's intergalactic space travel for you."

Rush walked back towards the gate, and picked up the case of supplies back again.

"Stop complaining, Eli" he said, frowning. "No one forced you to come."

_I did get him involved in this though_, Rush thought with a twinge of guilt. _He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. _

But then neither would the entire crew. Rush had stranded eighty people billions of light-years away from home to satisfy his own curiosity.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Nicholas Rush stared around at his incredible surroundings; the vast asteroid field, the unending grey of the asteroid itself, the blinding light of the star, the arrow-like silhouette of the _Destiny_ in the distance. _If I had not dialled the ninth chevron, I would not be looking at this amazing sight._ The crew would not be solving the mysteries of arguably the most important star ship in history.

Rush's conscience sometimes conflicted with his desires, over many things, but at that moment he knew one thing; _I would do it again in an instant._

Sergeant Greer pulled the bolt back on his rifle, checking that it was not jammed. Rush looked back at the Sergeant, looking through the grimy Ancient visor.

"Ready?" Rush asked.

Greer simply nodded sternly inside his helmet, still checking his rifle's functionality. Rush pressed the communications button on the remote attached to his wrist again.

"Well, after that bloody fiasco, we're finally ready to move out," he said gruffly into the helmet's communication systems. "Keep the weapons system down until the _Destiny_ is clear of this part of the asteroid field. Due to its current orbit, it should loop back around and fly past here again, so make sure the weapons will not fire on this asteroid again."

"Don't worry, Rush, we've got things under control on this end,"Colonel Young's replied.

_I highly doubt that_.

"Which way should we go?" Eli asked, gesturing around him. "Every direction is just dust and more dust."

"We'll head towards that crater," Rush said, pointing in that direction. "It'll give us a clear landmark to make sure that we can get back."

"We'll keep the gate active. As I said, check in every ten minutes regardless," Young ordered. "This excursion is more dangerous than any we have attempted before; one wrong step and you could be floating out into space."

You really know nothing about astrophysics.

"Copy that, Colonel," Rush replied, with no intention of following the Colonel's orders. "Rush out."

He de-pressed the button on the remote, and motioned to Greer to take point and lead the group.

"Nuh-huh, you're going first," the Sergeant said calmly, waving his assault rifle at their intended destination; the huge crater.

"But you're the only one with a gun," Rush stated, irritated.

"Exactly."

Rush sighed deeply; _for Christ's sake, grow up. _

"Whatever," the scientist said, as he lead the way and began moving his suit forward step by step, leaving foot prints in the grey, alien dirt. Greer and Eli followed.

_How immature, _Rush thought. _What can I possibly do to him here?_ They were both encased in thick, armour-like environmental suits. As the trio walked across the asteroid surface, Rush began to theorise why Greer was being even more aggressive and unpredictable than usual.

Recently, through rather strange circumstances, certain members of the crew had experienced hallucinations of the most vivid emotions that inhabited their minds. Apparently, Greer had seen Rush, along with Camille Wray, conspiring to take over the ship. This had lead to violence towards Wray on Greer's behalf, and the accentuation of Greer's mistrust of both of them. _He still isn't over it_, Rush realised. _Despite the fact it was all a hallucination_.

Master Sergeant Ronald Greer was a very interesting person. But very dangerous to Rush, so he decided to give the angry Sergeant a wide berth for now.

Suddenly, the dark shape of the _Destiny_ soared high above them, filling the sky and blocking out the nearby sun. The azure from the star glinted brilliantly on the ships metal hull. It flew past them, asteroids impacting against its yellow shield, and shot off into space like a bullet from a gun. _Oh my God. _Despite the lack of sound, Rush felt exhilaration and excitement spread through him as he skipped a breath. _I will never forget anything that I have seen in the last ten minutes._

The three man off-world team gazed at the _Destiny_ flying above them; Eli was gaping in wonder at the magnificent ship, and even Greer was staring in amazement. _Never thought I would see that_, Rush thought. _This is certainly turning into a day of firsts._

"That's... that's..." Eli whispered, as he spun the Kino around to record the immense ship flying above them.

"Spectacular?" Rush offered, agreeing completely.

"Hell yes..." Eli said; Rush had never seen his face so filled with awe.

Rush stared off into space, admiring the huge shape of the _Destiny_, as it pierced through the asteroid field. Suddenly, lances of yellow light began shooting out from the hull, as the weapons system was reactivated.

"Come on," Greer's deep voice said over the suit radios. "We only have twelve hours. Let's get moving."

Greer began walking forward at a brisk pace, while Eli and Rush spent a few more moments admiring the wonders of the asteroid field. Rush turned to face their intended destination and began lifting one foot over another, still trying to get used to the lower gravity. Eli quickly followed, manoeuvring the Kino as he walked.

One thought permeated all the information that Rush held within his brain; _what are we going to find on this rock?_

_Destiny: Corridors. _

Colonel Everett Young and Lieutenant Matthew Scott walked slowly through the corridors of the _Destiny_, side by side. Neither man said anything, as they reflected on the events that had just transpired.

The last few minutes had been intense. Upon hearing about the imminent danger to the off-world team, Adam Brody, Sergeant Riley and Doctor Park had begun frantically pushing buttons and twisting dials on the gate room consoles. Young had tried to encourage them; telling them that the off-world team depended on them. That only succeeded in freaking them out more. _Nice one, Everett. Way to show off your leadership skills._

After a moment, they had realised that they could not deactivate the weapons from the gate room. Brody had then proceeded to run faster than he probably ever had in his life to the control interface room. The wait had been agonising; the silence of the gate room except for Rush and Eli's static filled screams of terror. Thousands of thoughts had raced through Young's mind at the speed of light; guilt, fear, anger, regret. _But only for Eli and Greer_, Young realised.

He had felt nothing for Rush, even as he heard his screams over the radio. And that scared him more than anything; _how could I have become a man who does not care that someone is about to die? _Young did hate the man; that much he knew for sure. _But do I really want him to die? I thought I had changed after that incident..._

After what had seemed like an eternity, Brody had finally reached the control room and had deactivated the weapon systems, thereby saving the team on the asteroid. Relief had enveloped Everett; but again, not for Rush.

Once Brody had returned, and after the off-world team had announced they were moving, Brody and Riley had offered to stay in the gate room in order to monitor power usage by the weapons and shields. Young had also told Rush to check in every ten minutes with them; _but he won't do it._

Lisa Park had, under Colonel Young's orders, returned to work on the repairs to another Ancient environmental suit. Young had a rather unsettling feeling that they might need it soon, and he would rather have an extra suit and not need it, than need it, and not have one. _Anything could happen out here._

After making sure the science team were okay, Young and Scott had proceeded to walk out of the gate room, heading for the infirmary. The Colonel had heard nothing from Lieutenant Johansen since her earlier radio transmission, and he was beginning to worry.

_She's a strong woman_, he told himself. _And she's trained for this. She can handle it._

But everyone has their breaking point; _I've proven that time and time again._

Young looked briefly at Scott's face; from his expression the Colonel could tell that he was thinking the same thing. This would not be the first time that TJ would succumb to the weight of her responsibilities, and the military personnel under Young's command felt a great sense of comradeship that the civilians did not understand. Scott and TJ, along with Greer, were very good friends and by his nature Scott would do everything he could to help.

Still saying nothing, they arrived at an intersection; the infirmary was to left.

"Colonel Young!" a woman's voice said, interrupting Young's thoughts.

Everett turned, and saw a short Asian woman walking briskly towards him. She had long dark hair and was wearing a purple pullover with smart, black pants.

This was Camille Wray, the ranking official from the International Oversight Advisory, someone who Colonel Young did not like one bit.

"I'd like a word, if you please," she said in that to tone that said always made it seem like she was saying _"I'm better than you."_

The IOA was a government body that monitored Stargate Command and made sure that it was following the correct rules and regulations regarding every aspect of gate travel, from interacting with alien species to dealing with personnel issues. The IOA had officials in every department related to gate travel; the SGC itself, the Ancient city of Atlantis, as well as the Department of Home world Command and every off-world base.

Wray had been the highest ranking IOA official at Icarus Base, and even back then Young had found her a nuisance; _she knows way too much about all of our private lives._ She always deemed it necessary to meddle in the Colonels job, when he took absolutely no interesting in hers.

"I don't have time for this, Wray," Young said calmly, as he began walking again.

"I don't care," she retorted firmly. "Why am I not being kept in the loop? What is going on?"

"You're not being kept informed because I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with you at the present time," Young said calmly, anger starting to rise within him.

Walking along side the two military men, Wray's expression grew from one of mere annoyance to one of genuine anger. _Just leave it, Wray_, Young thought. _I don't have time for this._

"I am the ranking IOA official onboard-,"

_That's it._

Colonel Young suddenly stopped and turned to face Wray, his eyes wide in anger, before Scott could step in.

"Miss Wray," he said quietly, with ice in his voice. "I don't care about your human resources crap. I was shaken out of bed at midnight by the sound of our shields taking damage. We solved that problem."

Young had finally snapped; exhaustion and anger at his situation were bubbling through his veins like acid. He didn't want to take it out on Wray, even though sometimes she deserved it, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Then, we found out that our away team was about to get killed if we didn't do something. We solved that too."

Wray's facial expression had morphed from one of rage to one of shock and... Was it _fear?_

"Colonel..." Scott began, putting his hand on the Colonels shoulder. Young turned to face the Lieutenant, silencing him immediately. But to his credit he did not recoil or back down; Scott simply took away his hand and fixed the Colonel with a doubtful expression.

Young's actions were really not helping with Scott's growing doubt in his command. _He's going to lose all trust in me if I'm not careful_, he realised with worry. _I cannot let that happen. My second in command cannot doubt my decisions. _Young turned back to face Wray, and continued with his lecture.

"Now, I am heading to our infirmary to make sure that our ranking medical officer, who is only trained as a medic and really should not be working in her condition, can handle tending to the wounded from our initial entrance to this asteroid field."

Scott's expression changed again to one of annoyance as well as doubt, but he did not say anything; _I'll deal with you later, Scott._

"I am trying to save lives here, along with making sure that my only medic will not suffer from an emotional breakdown anytime soon," Young tried his best to breathe deeply and relax, but he couldn't. Anger had taken over again once more.

"I will properly inform you of the current situation when I have a chance," he lied. "So, either you come with us to give TJ a hand, or return to your quarters."

Wray was silent in shock; it had not quite been an outburst of rage, but Wray knew from his contorted facial expression and voice tone that he was furious. She just stood there, completely taken aback, with her hands by her sides.

"Now!" Young said; not quite yelling, but certainly aggressive enough.

The head of human resources simply stood there, not answering. The Colonel stood still for a moment, glaring at the woman, before turning and continuing his journey to the infirmary. He breathed deeply and slowly in order to keep his anger under his control. Matthew Scott reluctantly followed.

"Sir," the young lieutenant said quietly cautiously; after a few moments, Young heard Camille Wray's footsteps behind them, presumably on her way to help in the infirmary. "Don't you think that was a little harsh? Camille is just doing her job."

"So am I, Lieutenant," Young replied concisely, saying nothing more on the matter; _there is nothing else to say._

Young instantly regretted his sudden loss of control. It would not be long before news of his latest outburst would reach the ears of the civilian crew members; _and Rush, not that the man will be surprised given our history. _That would cause problems down the road. _I really don't need another mutiny on my hands_.

Young would to try and mend fences with Wray later; right now he had enough problems to deal with.

After a few more moments of walking, the two military men came to an Ancient door. Young slapped the control panel, and the circular door split apart into two semi-circles, revealing the infirmary.

The sight before them was chaotic.

Around a dozen people, military and civilian, were sprawled all over the many Ancient hospital beds that were packed into the small infirmary. Some had bandages wrapped around their heads or other parts of the body, others were sat up right clutching bleeding arms or hands. A couple of people, including Lieutenant Vanessa James and Airmen Becker, were hurrying around to tend to the wounds of different patients.

"Oh God..." Young exclaimed; they had not had this many wounded since the first alien attack months ago. "She said it was only seven or eight people."

Scott quickly ran to the nearest bed to help a man who was clutching his right hand. Once the Lieutenant had moved the man's other hand away, Scott saw the three inch long cut in the palm of the hand.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to bandage it up and you'll be okay," the Lieutenant said reassuringly.

The man nodded, as Scott grabbed a bandage from a nearby table and began wrapping it around the wound. He had been trained in basic first aid, but he was no medic; Young could see uncertainty in his face. _You'll do fine, Matthew._

Camille entered the room behind Young, and stood staring at the carnage unfolding in the infirmary. James looked up from her patient; a woman with an apparent head injury. _Oh Christ_, Young thought. He hadn't had any idea that it would be this bad.

"Are you just going to stand there?" James asked brashly, her voice wavering somewhat. Camille took the hint, and hurriedly walked over to another bed and began doing her best to help.

The beds featured a tall backboard, with Ancient buttons and screens displaying different types of medical information. Doctor Rush had taught TJ how to use these systems, along with a basic understanding of the Ancient language in order to interpret the data.

And there was TJ herself; hunched over a sleeping patient, her hands shaking as she entered a deep cut in the patients throat. Young walked around to the other side of the bed so he could see her face.

Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head, but her attractive face was streaked with tears. Her stomach bulged out from underneath her loose white shirt; _you really should not be on active duty in your condition._ She forced herself not to sob. Seeing Young, she spoke in a quiet, croaky voice.

"I can't let him die."

"What happened to him?" Young asked with concern.

"The... the turbulence, threw people around, banged their heads on walls or scraped exposed metal..."

Young said nothing; _these people are under my command. It's my fault._ He looked down and picked up the man's wrist, feeling for any kind of pulse.

There was none. _Oh crap._

The Colonel looked up, momentarily shocked; _he's dead_. Young had blamed Rush for the stalling of the ship, which the Colonel thought was justified, but in the process he had impeded the scientists capability to fix the problem sooner, possibly avoiding all of these injuries.

Guilt rose up within Young, but he forced it back down again as his mind was drawn back to the current situation. After a few agonising moments, he finally spoke, his voice low and heavy, reflecting the burden he carried.

"TJ," Young said quietly, as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"No..." she replied, pushing him away; _Tamara..._

"TJ," he said again, grabbing her hand and pulling it out of the wound. "TJ, stop."

_Christ, it's like Doctor Simms all over again._

"No! I can save him!" she screamed, as anguish took over and tears streaked down her face uncontrollably.

"TJ! He's gone!" Young exclaimed; _I don't want to say it._ He forced himself to, for her sake."He is dead, you understand?"

The young woman finally stopped, pulling her blood soaked hands out of the open wound. She held them up to her face. The blood of the man she had just let die. _It wasn't your fault. Tamara_. She began sobbing hard, the tears streaming down her face even faster.

"What was his name?" her voice was almost unintelligible through the sobs.

Young said nothing, looking down at the face of the man who had just died; _I don't know_, he realised with horror and disgust at himself. _Oh Christ, I don't know what his name was. _

Scott, James and Wray both looked over, carefully avoiding the eyes of both TJ and the dead man. _They don't know either. Oh my god, how can no one know his name? He just died! _

"How the hell can no one know his name?" TJ screamed at the top of her lungs, taking everyone in the infirmary completely by surprise. Young had never seen her lose control like this; I'm sorry.

Suddenly her legs seemed to give way, and she slid down the Ancient bed all the way to the floor. Young quickly knelt down, putting his arms around her.

"Hey, it's okay," he whispered in her ear reassuringly, her arms reaching around him and grabbing hold tightly. "It's all right. Everything's going to be fine."

She murmured something almost unintelligible, but it sounded something like "No it won't." That hit Young like a freight train. He knew that she was right. _This is what life in space is like_, he thought. _It will not get any better. People will get hurt and people will die, and it is my duty to prevent that from happening._

But the Colonel had proven time and time again that he could not. _I should not be in command of this ship._

It was his fault that all these people were wounded. It is _his fault_ that TJ was under all this stress, which was not helping her condition one bit. The Colonel wished that he had another medical officer onboard; _she really should not be doing this right now._ The guilt rose within Young again, and this time it was almost uncontrollable.

Scott, James and Wray moved from patient to patient, doing whatever they could to help. But they were not medics; they could dress wounds, and that was pretty much it. But it was better than nothing, and Young admired their willingness to help.

His thoughts drifted back to the woman in his arms. _Christ, I'm so sorry, TJ_. On Icarus Base, she had been but a field medic. And after certain... events, which involved the Colonel, she had decided to quit her job and study to become a doctor after her scholarship to a Seattle university had come through.

The new crew of the _Destiny_ complained about how they were not supposed to be there, but Tamara Johansen was one of the only people who _truly_ should not have been there. Before she could leave, Icarus had been attacked and they had been forced through the Stargate to the _Destiny._

After Doctor Simms' death at Icarus, someone had to step up and take over his mantle as ranking medical officer. Being just a field medic, she was way out of her depth, but so far she had held up reasonably well. But Young had known that her inexperience and lack of confidence would take over eventually, it always did. And this was that time. _After this she will be fine for a spell. But stress always rears its ugly head time and time again._

Tamara was a strong woman, though. With a little help, she would be back on her feet in no time, doing what she did best; helping people.

They sat there, intertwined in each other's arms for a few minutes, while Scott, Wray and James dealt with the rest of the patients. Finally, Johansen began to stand up, after pulling herself together somewhat. Young let go of her, allowing them both to get to their feet. She wiped the tears away from her eyes using the collar of her black Icarus Base uniform. _Good girl_, he thought with pride. _You'll be fine._

"Thank you, sir," she said, looking into deeply his eyes; behind them was an unimaginable amount of different emotions that Young could not recognise any of them.

"No need to thank me. Now you need to help these people," Young stated. "I'm sorry, but that's the reality. You're the only person on this ship who has a hope in hell of helping them."

Those words disguised so many other words Young wanted...no, _needed_ to say to Tamara, but couldn't. It would make things even more complicated than they already were. _Those feelings have already caused enough problems as it is._

TJ gulped, before breathing deeply, collecting herself; _you can do it, TJ._

"Yes, sir," she said, her voice already much firmer and more confident. Good girl, Young thought again, before turning to face Scott.

"Scott, James, you stay here and give TJ a hand," Young ordered. "Camille, I would appreciate it if you stayed here too. These people need all the help they can get."

Camille said nothing; she simply nodded and continued to work on her current patient.

"Thanks," he said warmly; _she isn't so bad._

_And she's certainly a lot easier to handle than Rush._

"Yes, sir," Scott said. "If I may ask, what are you going to do?"

Young took Tamara's hand briefly, as if to say "I'm here if you need me." _I hope that's the message she gets anyway. _He let go of her hand, after holding it for perhaps longer than he should have, before opening his mouth to reply to Scott's question, but was interrupting by his squawking radio.

"Colonel Young," the disembodied voice said. "This is Brody."

"Go ahead," Everett said, after sighing deeply.

"We've got a... problem," Brody replied cautiously; what does he think I'm going to do? "You'd better come up to the gate room right away."

_There's always something_, Young thought wearily, before speaking again.

"I'm on my way."

The Colonel looked again at Scott, who nodded and returned to work on his patient. Young's gaze passed over the chaotic infirmary, lingering on the beauty of Tamara Johansen for a moment, before he turned and exited the room.

On his way to the gate room, one single thought encompassed his entire consciousness; the answer he would have given to Scott's enquiry about what he was going to do now.

_I have no idea._


End file.
